03 June 2013

Gay Man Who Sued Kevin Clash Attacked in NYC Hate Crime

New York City detectives have arrested five men—ranging in age from 16 to 21-years-old—who allegedly shouted anti-gay slurs at a young gay man as they beat him outside Brooklyn's Prospect Park. The alleged victim is 25-year-old Kevin Kiadii, a makeup artist and one of at least four young men who have sued former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash for sexual abuse, reports the New York Daily News and the New York Post.

Police arrested five men who they say screamed anti-gay slurs as they beat Kevin Kiadii, 25, outside Prospect Park in Brooklyn Wednesday night, sources said. ... Kiadii told police that he was on Empire Blvd. near Flatbush Ave. at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when he spotted four drunken men carrying another man out of the park. When he offered the wobbly stranger his pineapple soda, the suspects pounced.

"When I offered (my soda) one of them started yelling, 'Get the f--- out of here you f---ing f----t! I’ll f--- you up.'" Kiadii said he sprayed his assailants with perfume. Kiadii ended up wrestling with his attackers as he tried to fight them off, receiving a bruised finger and some scratches.

Police were nearby and responded. The suspects each were charged with gang assault and aggravated harassment as a hate crime, adds CBS 2.

The brutal gay-bashing becomes only the latest in a troubling trend in the nation's largest city. So far this year, there have been at least 30 reported gay bias attacks in the New York City, "more than double for the same period last year." They are likely more incidents that have not been reported to authorities.

Kevin Kiadii is one of at least four men who have filed federal lawsuits charging that the 52-year-old Kevin Clash had sex with them when they were underage. Kiadii's lawsuit claims that Clash "trolled gay telephone chat-line rooms to meet and have sex with underage boys." Kiadii says that he was only 16-years-old when he and Clash had sex.